Abstract: Three experiments were conducted using different training structures and two sets of
instructions in an attempt to systematically replicate previous findings of equivalence and
typicality effects. Although each experiment used a different training structure, all training
included the use of nonsense syllables and eight sets of abstract stimuli. The abstract stimuli
differed along a number of features, but only four of these features were consistent across the
trained classes. Each stimulus included one, two, three, and four of the class consistent features
which defined the typicality of the stimulus. In Experiment 1, subjects were given a detailed set
of instructions and used a many-to-one training structure where the abstract stimuli were samples
and the nonsense syllables were comparisons. In Experiments 2 and 3, subjects were given
either detailed or minimal instructions and used a one-to-many training structure where one of
the abstract shapes served as the sample and the syllables and other abstract shapes were the
comparisons. Symmetry and transitivity probe tests were used to assess the formation of
equivalence while novel probe tests, which presented new abstract stimuli, tested the subject’s
ability to generalize the class consistent features to the new examples. Subjects in Experiment 1
showed generalized equivalence but failed to show typicality effects in latency data. Subjects in
Experiment 2 failed to demonstrate equivalence. Results from Experiment 3 showed the
formation of generalized equivalence and typicality in subjects that received the detailed
instructions. These findings reveal that language-like equivalence classes and typicality effects
can be produced from more than one training structure.